Detroit's role in 'Up in the Air:' Metro airport, unemployed make appearance in much-hyped film

Up in the Air movie posterThe image in this movie poster for 'Up in the Air' was shot at Detroit Metro AirportIf "Precious" is this year's "Slumdog Millionaire" (i.e. the little independent film that won big), "Up in the Air" is to 2010 what "No Country for Old Men" was to 2008.

Both had tons of pre-Oscar hype, both were directed by successful-yet-quirky filmmakers (then: the Coen brothers, now: Jason Reitman) and both are led by the face of a big-time star (then: Daniel Day Lewis, now: George Clooney).

Based on early reviews, "Up in the Air" will get at least a few Oscar nods and is being billed as this year's Big Film -- and Detroit can take some pride in that.

Detroit Free Press, Dec. 6: Although lots of projects have filmed at the airport in recent
months, "Up in the Air" was a unique challenge because of Clooney's
fame. Although the laid-back star didn't want a big fuss made over him,
the intense interest in his presence "sort of felt like when the
Beatles got off the plane at JFK for the first time," says (Wayne County Airport Authority spokesman Scott) Wintner.

"I
sorely underestimated the lengths that some women will go to to be
within feet of George Clooney," he says. "We had women who were at one
end of the gate areas while we were down at the other end of the
terminal, who heard about it and missed their flight, whipped off their
heels to run to catch George Clooney."

But DTW wasn't the only part of Detroit caught on tape for "Up in the Air."

According to an interview with Reitman that aired on National Public Radio last week, the director decided to use real-life people who had lost their jobs as stand-ins for the people being fired by Clooney's character, a corporate hit man.

"At a certain point during scouting, I realized that the scenes that I
had written of people getting fired were just inauthentic," Reitman said in the interview.

"We needed
something that spoke to the times and what was really happening. I cut
out all the firing scenes in the movie and we put ads out in the paper,
both in Detroit and St. Louis, saying that we were making a documentary
about job loss."

According to the Detroit Free Press, about 10 people from each city made it into the finished film.

Check it out for yourself when the film opens in wide release on Christmas Day.